UFC welterweight Jake Shields believes he has just one fight left on his current UFC contract, and with his next bout, he wants to make it count.

Now 35 years old and seven fights into his UFC career after successful runs in several now-defunct competitors to the industry leader, Shields is in a position where he needs to make something big happen, and he has a plan.

Shields (29-6-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) said if he can pull off what no fighter has thus far been able to do – finish Hector Lombard (33-4-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) – he should get a shot at the next welterweight champion.

“I’ve gotta be close,” he today told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’m on a good win streak right now, and I want to go out there put Hector away and hopefully finish, which isn’t an easy task. I would be the first guy to do it and get a title shot.”

Shields got one nearly three years ago when he met Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129. Before a record-breaking crowd of 55,000 fans in Toronto, he was soundly out-struck by the then-champion, but Shields rallied as the fight went on and ended St-Pierre’s streak of 33 consecutive rounds won.

After that fight, Shields lost his father and was railroaded by Jake Ellenberger in a subsequent bout. He found his stride after some time off and beat four tough opponents, though one win was overturned when he tested positive for an undisclosed banned substance.

Next week, he attempts to put another big win on his resume when he meets Lombard on the pay-per-view main card of UFC 171, which takes place March 15 at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. A fight for the welterweight title left vacant by now-former champ Georges St-Pierre headlines the event.

Top contenders Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler will decide the next person to wear one of the UFC’s most prestigious belts. Shields, though, believes he has a good argument to be next in line.

The former Strikeforce and EliteXC champ frequently employs the kind of grinding, grappling-based style that the UFC avoids when seeking out contenders, but he thinks a finish of the dangerous Lombard would convince decision-makers to give him another shot.

“I want to take him down, go for a submission, (and work) heavy ground and pound,” Shields said. “I think if I can finish him, I can probably get a title shot. So I need to go out there and push as hard as I possibly can.

“Hector’s a guy you can’t go in and push too fast; you don’t want to go in and start trading with him, because in my mind, he’s quite possibly the hardest hitter in the 170-pound division.”

Indeed, in 10 years of fighting in multiple top-tier promotions, Lombard only has fallen short on scorecards. The former Olympian judoka more often leaves his opponents in a heap after battering them with his heavy hands. Most recently, he knocked out onetime middleweight title challenger Nate Marquardt in less than two minutes in his welterweight debut at UFC 166.

Lombard has called Shields boring and predicted another knockout, but Shields believes the former Bellator champ is merely posturing.

“Guys will say whatever, like, ‘It’s going to be an easy fight,’ but when you’re fighting someone at the top level, we all know that it’s not going to be an easy fight,” he said. “I don’t think Hector’s going to be an easy fight. I’d be stupid to say that. I could pretend in this interview and say, ‘Oh, I’m going to walk right through him,’ but Hector’s a beast, man.

“I know that, he knows I’m tough, and we’ve both got to be at the top of our game that night.”

Shields sees only a few fighters in the running with him for the No. 1 contender position, including Rory MacDonald, who recently battered Demian Maia at UFC 170. He notes a previous win over Lawler, whom he submitted in 2009 to claim the Strikeforce middleweight title, and onetime title challenger Carlos Condit, whom he outpointed in 2006 in a one-night tournament.

He said Condit doesn’t have much of a case for another shot after falling short to St-Pierre in 2012, and he said he deserves a place ahead of the recently surging Tyron Woodley, who this past November knocked out onetime title challenger Josh Koscheck.

Shields didn’t mention Matt Brown, who headlines UFC Fight Night 40 in May and could pick up his seventh straight win in the division. Nor did he say anything about Dong Hyun Kim, who picked him another highlight-reel knockout this past Saturday at the TUF China Finale.

At the moment, it might be a closer race than he thinks when it comes to who’s on top at 170 pounds. But like most fighters, he places himself in the catbird seat.

“I think if I win this fight, I’m the most deserving of it,” Shields said.

Shields’ longtime teammate and friend, Gilbert Melendez, recently secured a new UFC contract that will put him on the road to a title shot as well as on the path to greater financial freedom. A deal like that would be life changing for Shields, who’s commanded big purses for much of his career as a non-UFC attraction, but missed out on the payouts of pay-per-view hits.

Shields hasn’t done himself any favors with the way he’s pursued his success inside the cage, but he’s trying to turn things around. At this point, it’s a necessity for his long-term well being.

“I can’t go out and lose to Hector and ask for more money, so I’ve got to take it one step at a time,” he said. “I’ve got a beast standing in front of me next week.”

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